• Abandon the sidewalk and head for the trails. Running on grass or gravel or hard sand is far better than cement or pavement. This puts pressure on knees and lower back and can cause injury.
• The answer for being a stronger and faster runner is running up hills. Running up hills is a challenge. As the hill gets higher we are forced to carry our weight against gravity.
• A great fat-blasting cardio workout is running, and to step it up even more is running up hill.
Uphill training is an intense workout routine, and it requires a good warm up. Make sure you are in good physical condition to tackle hills. Otherwise, work up to it slowly. Even walking up hill will be intense if you are untrained.
• Hills are a great way to do interval training. You can do it with running, jogging or walking. Try going up the hill at your hard pace and then doing a slower recovery pace back down the hill. Repeat for more rounds depending on your fitness level, and gradually increase this over time.
• This is a great way to incorporate high intensity interval training in your workout. Basically, hill running will more effectively increase your metabolism and burn more calories than a longer, steady-paced, slower jog. Bottom line…you will get more fat burning results in a shorter period of time by comparison.
• Running up hill uses more body weight resistance to push against, making the leg muscles work much harder. It requires a good knee lift, driving arms, and the calf muscles have to work twice as hard or harder than running on a flat surface. Like many boot camp routines, this will definitely improve both your strength and endurance…and you will notice how easy it will seem when returning to your flatter runs.
• Pick a focal point at the top of the hill. Avoid looking down at your feet. Enjoy the hill, rather than fighting with it.
• You will improve your strength in your quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, calves and back. The added benefit of building more muscle is what will help speed up your metabolism. |
